Chasing Clowns: A Novel (Girl Clown Hatchet Suspense Series Book 2) Read online

  “I’m a new person to wonder over.”

  “Well, you’re welcome over to babysit anytime.”

  Chloe smiled back at her, remembering vividly how much of a handful Chev had been back in the day.

  Jill handed Chloe the advertisement with the address, and Chloe handed the baby back to Jill.

  Jill said, “AJ lives out at that trashy trailer court just outside town.”

  “Oh? Which one is that?”

  “It’s called something weird—like the ugly goose, minty goose…mother goose?”

  Chloe said it before she even realized. “The Misty Goose?”

  “Yeah! That’s the one.”

  Chloe frowned and nodded. In the back of her mind she heard circus music tinkle. She put the advertisement in her coat pocket and stood, and Jill walked her to the door. “Say, Officer Jackson, you seem like a real nice person. You’re not going to let them lock up my brother again, are you? Cuz, I know he has problems, but Sammy’s a good person and prison just kinda messed him up if you know what I mean.”

  Chloe nodded. “I don’t want Sammy to go back either, Jill, that’s part of my job. I’ll find him and see what he’s been up to.”

  Jill sighed. “All right, then. Nice meeting you, Officer.”

  They shook hands, and as they did the serpent tattoo caught Chloe’s eye again. “Nice to meet you, too.” Jacob grabbed for her hand. Chloe let him take her finger, and she shook it. “Oh, yes! You too, little man. You too.” Both women laughed.

  Chloe left the warmth of the home and stepped back into the cold wind. When she reached the car, she punched in the address Jill had written on the back of the advertisement into her laptop. She was surprised to find that it was the same area where her next visit was scheduled.

  Erin and Sharon Pratt were twins. According to the reports, almost identical twins. Chloe pulled a paper file out of her messenger bag. The Misty Goose Trailer Court was scrawled in pencil on the outside of the file. Chloe realized she recognized the name of the trailer court from reading over the file earlier, but that didn’t explain the sharp shock she felt at the name.

  Odd.

  The Pratt sisters, along with several other of the parolees, had previously been assigned to the county parole officer. Officer Wallop was nearing retirement and had a reputation of being a slacker. Chloe had met him only once during orientation. With a donut stuck in his mouth and reeking of coffee, she was inclined to believe the gossip.

  Aware she’d been sitting in the driveway for a while, Chloe backed out and decided to swing by her house to grab a late lunch before heading out of Spindler. Most of her morning and afternoon had been spent calling parolees and checking in with them.

  Chloe would never consider pulling into her driveway with a patrol car, but since it was unmarked and she was in casual clothes, it wasn’t a problem.

  She sat in the warmth of the car before heading out into the cold, checking her phone for messages. There was a text from her Aunt.

  Volunteering at Chev’s school today, such a sweetie!

  The corner of Chloe’s mouth lifted in a fond smile. Tanya’s presence and help with the kids had been an absolute godsend. She started texting back when there was a thump on her driver’s window.

  She dropped her phone and was reaching inside her coat when she recognized her new neighbor, Diana Hacksworthy, waving and smiling outside the car. Chloe raised her hand to her heart as she rolled down the window. Diana grinned and waved, her whole face brightening up. “Hey, neighbor! Didn’t mean to give you a heart attack.”

  Chloe smiled. “At least I wasn’t holding a coffee.”

  “Right! Hey, did you know in Minnesota it’s a crime to drive and drink coffee at the same time?

  Chloe raised her eyebrow.

  She and Diana had only spoke on occasion since they had moved in, but in those few conversations Diana was always bringing up crime cases or strange laws from other states or countries. She learned it all from researching for her daughter who was a fancy crime writer in Maine.

  Chloe said, “No, I didn’t know that. I’m glad that isn’t the case in Washington. I’d have to move back to California.”

  Diana laughed with an ethereal glow about her, delighted to have educated another person on the strange facts of life. Her silvered locks blew in the wind, and she drew a dark purple shawl closer around her shoulders. “That’s not why I knocked on your window, though. I know we haven’t spoken much and you guys are busy and everything, but I’m looking for people to join the book club I’m hosting over at Spindler library. Thought since you are an officer and everything, you might enjoy reading some of my daughter’s true crime books. We also like to read Stephen King. We meet every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m..”

  Chloe couldn’t remember the last time she’d sat back with a book. Years ago, before she met Wes, she’d read her Aunt’s whole collection of Stephen King books, but she hadn’t read anything of his since then. “My schedule has been pretty crazy, but thanks for letting me know. I’ll see if I can drop in. My Aunt might enjoy that, too.”

  “Oh sure! We’d love to have either of you—or both. Just wanted to let you know.”

  “Thanks, Diana.”

  “No problem. Toodles.” Diana walked quickly across the joined yards to her house and waved once before hustling in the front door.

  Chloe got out of the car, and before she could close the door, the wind slammed it for her. She hurried across the yard and into the house. She was in and out in ten minutes flat with a sandwich and a hot cup of coffee.

  She still had time to visit Sammy’s friend, AJ, before meeting up with the Pratt sisters.

  She typed AJ’s address into her GPS, and pulled onto the street.

  GPS decided that she would take the longer route through downtown Spindler, but she didn’t mind since she was still learning the roads.

  As Chloe drove down Main Street, a little restaurant on the block corner caught her eye. Warm light shone through the clean windows, showing off black and white checkered floors, red and chrome stools at the counter, and a jukebox in the corner. A sign declared it was Sara’s Diner. Chloe decided she’d have to try out the diner’s coffee sometime. At the next stoplight, she turned and made her way out to the old highway. Despite the potholes in the cement, it was a lovely drive weaving along beside the river for which the town was named. If she kept along the old highway, she’d eventually be able to get on I-5, but instead, the device told her to take an intersecting road that would loop her back around closer to town.

  The GPS didn’t have to tell her when she’d arrived at The Misty Goose Trailer Court because Chloe instantly recognized it. As she turned onto Misty Avenue, she tapped on the brakes and pulled off to the side. She stared at the old metal sign with the bullet holes through the double O in goose. Chloe had the sudden urge to get out of the car and run her fingers over the rusted metal. She knew this place. It was a part of her past somehow. Perhaps she’d had a friend there that she liked to visit?

  She turned her attention from the sign to the trailer court itself and eased onto Misty Avenue.

  Old mattresses, tires, and stripped cars sat between rusted out trailers.

  Chloe felt like she recognized some of the trailers, but couldn’t place in her mind when she’d seen them.

  She would have to tell Doctor Morgan at their next Skype appointment. Chloe wished she could ask her Aunt about it, but she knew the woman would keep tight-lipped.

  Eventually, Misty Avenue branched out into two separate streets. Goose Avenue was to the left. Gander Avenue was to the right. GPS told her to take Gander, but Chloe had a strong urge to go left down Goose.

  She typed in AJ’s address and realized his trailer was in Gosling Circle. She had seen a little sign with Manager’s Office on it pointing that way.

  She glanced at the clock and swore. There wouldn’t be enough time to visit AJ after all. She only had five minutes until her appointment with the Pratt sisters. She re-typed their
address into the GPS and again it told her to take Gander Avenue.

  A car braked behind her, and she decided to head straight to the Pratt sister’s home.

  The car behind her paused in the same place she had—as if hesitating as well. The windshield was heavily tinted. A man sat at the wheel, but she couldn’t make out specifics. She noted the make of the car and license plates. It was an older dark blue Ford Taurus, the plates CCC3690. It was easy to remember because it was practically her bra measurement. Her Aunt would have laughed at this. Chloe made a mental note to tell her later.

  Down the gravel drive, two trailers sat opposite one another.

  A cedar had caved in the roof of the trailer on the left, and an old wooden carport had partially fallen on an old truck that had been stripped to the frame maybe a decade ago.

  Across from it, sat another trailer. It sat further down a longer drive way.

  Chloe assumed this was where the Pratt sisters lived.

  She turned the car into the driveway and was taken back by how familiar the light blue trailer looked. She felt a stir in her belly, a good stir.

  Pulling in the driveway felt like home. Had she lived here once before?

  No, she didn’t think so. In fact, she knew so because the files said the Pratt twins mother, Shirley, had bought the place back in the 80’s, and the girls had maintained the property.

  Perhaps she’d known Shirley Pratt back in the day? Whatever the case, Chloe had spent a lot of time here. This she knew.

  She drove down the driveway and parked behind a rusty blue Chevy. It looked to be a model from the late 50’s. Despite the rust, the frame looked solid with brand new tires. The Pratt twins had style.

  The wind whistled through the tops of the cedars. Their thick limbs waved to and fro. A long knotted rope hanging from a maple caught Chloe’s eye.

  It swung back and forth in the breeze. Eerie. By the looks, it had been hung recently.

  Hmmm…

  Beneath the rope, partially nestled in blackberry bushes, was an old station wagon. The windshield looked as if someone had whacked it with a baseball bat.

  She pulled up the twins file on her computer again and scanned the basic facts. Both had been convicted of check fraud and online credit card fraud—both convictions had earned them multiple felonies. Erin had also been found in possession of meth.

  Interesting.

  Chloe scribbled a few questions on her Moleskine notepad: Job? Drugs? Well-being. Does Shirley still live there? The next question she underlined. Do I know them?

  She tucked the Moleskine into her pocket and slid the pen behind her ear. A sudden movement in her peripheral vision startled her.

  Chloe stepped out of the car, placed her hand on her gun, and was surprised to find a woman dressed in green camo and a black hood climbing the knotted rope. She disappeared into the branches.

  What was this?

  The wind kept blowing stray hair into Chloe’s eyes as she strained to see the woman in the trees.

  There was the loud sound of a branch breaking to the right of her car. Chloe turned to find another woman—this one dressed in blue camo, also in a black hood—leaping from the branches of a broken cedar and landing perfectly on her feet. Blue Camo Woman stood between two tall trees. When she whipped out a pair of nunchucks, Chloe drew her gun. “Drop your weapon!”

  Whether the wind was so loud that the woman couldn’t hear her, or she just plain didn’t care, Chloe didn’t know. The Nunchuck Woman was unfazed by the sight of Chloe’s gun. She swung the nunchucks overhead, swiveled them around her waist, and under her thigh. She didn’t take a step toward Chloe; she seemed to be showing off rather than posing a threat.

  Chloe glanced over at the tree where Green Camo Woman had disappeared.

  “What the…?” When she looked over at Nunchuck Woman, she wasn’t alone.

  Green camo Woman now stood beside her holding a Samurai sword. With Chloe’s full attention, both women turned toward each other. Samurai Woman swung the metal above her head before slicing at Nunchuck Woman.

  Nunchuck Woman ducked to the ground and swung her nunchucks at the Samurai Woman’s feet.

  Samurai Woman jumped, dodging the nunchucks and swung her sword at Nunchuck Woman’s knees.

  Nunchuck Woman jump-roped the sword twice and whipped her nunchucks at the hooded face of Samurai Woman.

  Meanwhile, Chloe stole around the side of her car. They were so lost in their battle, that neither noticed as she approached.

  When she was fifteen feet away, Chloe aimed her gun first at the woman in green, then the woman in blue. “Both of you! Drop your weapons now.”

  Samurai Woman froze, her mouth gaping in surprise. It was long enough of a pause for Nunchuck Woman to whack the sword out of her hands.

  “Hey!” Samurai Woman whipped off her black hood. Her dark ponytail fell about her shoulders. “Dammit! You promised you’d stop doing that!”

  “I did not!” Nunchuck Woman yanked her hood off revealing short, pixie hair. “Besides, you deserved it for swinging that thing at my face. You remember what happened last month. Almost had to have stitches.”

  Save the length of their hair, both women were identical in shape and form.

  Chloe yelled, “Erin and Sharon Pratt!”

  Stunned, both women turned to Chloe, finally noticing she held a gun at their skulls.

  Samurai Woman whispered, “Shit.”

  Chloe used the sternest voice she could muster. “Put your hands in the air and drop your weapons now.”

  The long-haired Samurai Woman said, “She knows.”

  Nunchuck Woman burst out laughing.

  The women turned to Chloe, smiling. They both dropped their weapons, bowed as if on stage, then held hands and raised them up in the air.

  Chloe kept her gun trained on them as she neared, but dropped it as both women started laughing like lunatics.

  The pixie-haired woman said, “What did you think? We choreographed the fight all this last week just to show you.”

  A small dog began to yap from inside the trailer.

  Chloe looked from one woman to the other. “Erin and Sharon Pratt?”

  “Yes,” said both women at the same time.

  The pixie-haired woman pointed at her face. “Don’t you recognize us?”

  Chloe said, “What do you mean?”

  The woman in green with the long ponytail swept her hand down the length of her body. “It’s me…Sharon.” She pointed at her eye. “Blue on the left, brown on the right. You and Joey always called me Shar-bear.”

  “My right eye is blue, and left is brown,” said Erin. “But you never called me anything cool.” She sulked at this.

  Chloe looked from one woman to the other. She was about to tell them to knock off the scam when the faces of two little girls pierced her memory.

  The twins looked at each other then back at Chloe with puppy dog grins on their faces. Erin said, “You remember?”

  Chloe had a vision of two little girls, twins, wrapping their arms about her waist. She touched her forehead, where her scar was and shook her head. “I remember.”

  Erin said, “Can we approach? You’re not gonna shoot us, right?”

  Chloe glanced down at her gun, then put it away. “I’m not going to shoot you. Though, what you did just now, threatening an officer—”

  Erin said, “We weren’t threatening you, Chloe! Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? We were performing!”

  “Performing? I don’t know what you mean. And how do you know my first name?”

  Sharon put her hand on her hips. “I knew it. You did forget about us, didn’t you?” She rolled her eyes. “Erin thought for sure that you’d seen our apocalypse work out commercial online and—”

  Chloe shook her head. “What? What are you two talking about?”

  Sharon bent and scooped up her samurai sword. “We told the last officer about it.”

  “Officer Wallop,” said Erin.

  Sha
ron continued, “But he must not have told you.”

  Chloe drew her gun again. “Put that sword down.”

  Sharon froze, then dropped it. “But it’s not even real? It’s called a bokken, a wooden training sword. Like a glorified kid’s toy.”

  Erin kicked at her nunchucks. “Mine are just the foam trainer kind. If they were real, we’d been goners a long time ago.”

  Sharon said, “When Erin started training she kept whacking herself in the forehead with the nunchucks. I swear she had a bruise in the shape of an actual L smack dab in the middle.” She demonstrated the L. “L for Loser.”

  Erin said, “Yeah, well, at least I didn’t spin my sword wrong and nearly decapitate myself. And you know what? Nothing—Nothing—is as shitty as decapitating yourself in the apocalypse.”

  Sharon ignored her and continued to say, “Loser. Loooossseerrr.”

  Erin made a slicing motion at her neck, saying, “Shit-faced.”

  Chloe said, “Shush, the both of you. Put your hands on your head and back away from the weapons.” Both girls quieted and did what she asked.

  Chloe approached with her gun aimed in front of her. She bent and touched the weapons.

  Sure enough, the nunchucks were made of foam and the sword of wood. She picked them up. “Where do you even find these things?”

  At the same time, both twins said, “Amazon.”

  Chloe put her gun away, then picked up the nunchucks and the sword. She shook her head, then glanced up at the sisters who were both grinning like labs that just retrieved a stick from the stream.

  It started to rain.

  “Well, ladies, if we’re done with the show and tell,” said Chloe, drawing her coat closer about her midsection. “Let’s go inside, shall we?”

  The Pratt twins nodded and moved toward the trailer. They tromped up the front steps where Sharon opened the door. Chloe noted the blue tarp covering the roof above the entrance way, expecting the inside to look about the same.

  A tiny, fluffy dog zipped out the door, growling and snapping at Chloe’s feet. Erin caught him up in her arms. “Mutton Chops! Be a nice boy to the cop.”

  Chloe couldn’t help but feel amused with a sense of déjà vu, but when she walked inside the déjà vu truly struck her. The wallpaper, light fixtures, the old green couch she used to sit on with the twins while reading them books. The same tube TV the twins would sneak up to watch Tales of the Crypt. The carpet the girls had spilled countless Fruit Loops and hotdog chunks on. Warm, happy memories came to Chloe. Her eyes fixated on a Kool-Aid stain on the carpet.